Lawmaker urges Republicans to use reconciliation to fund Homeland Security

A lawmaker urged Republican colleagues to use the Senate budget reconciliation process to secure multi‑year funding for the Department of Homeland Security, saying that approach would allow passage by simple majority.

The lawmaker framed reconciliation as one of "two ways to do this," arguing it could be used first to reconcile funding for border patrol and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and then to fund the remainder of homeland operations. "Either we get we use reconciliation for a simple majority in the senate," he said.

He said reconciliation could be limited to select components or used to fund the entire department. "But either way, Joe, we can't leave the critical operations of Homeland Security ... protecting us against a terrorist attack through coast guard ... or the guys that are protecting us against cybersecurity attacks. This this is unacceptable," the lawmaker said, warning of risks to Coast Guard operations and cyber defenses if funding gaps remain.

Arguing that Democrats would "be obstruction until the November election," the lawmaker characterized the reconciliation path as an "all Republican exercise" that would remove Democrats' leverage and provide funding for multiple years. He said Republicans should consider using reconciliation for the whole department to avoid setting a precedent of funding some agencies and not others.

No formal motion or vote appears in the transcript. The remarks recorded were an outline of a strategy rather than the filing of specific legislation; the transcript does not record any committee action, introduced bill numbers, or a vote outcome.